- Myanmar: Critics of army rule stage silent strike against upcoming election
Source: ABC News
“Opponents of military rule in Myanmar staged a joint protest on Wednesday calling on people to stay indoors to show they are boycotting elections scheduled for late this month. They defied harsh legal penalties for attempting to disrupt the polls. … Critics say the Dec. 28 polls will be neither free nor fair and are an effort by the military to legitimize its rule after seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The General Strike Coordination Body, the leading non-violent organization opposing army rule, had urged people to join a ‘silent strike’ on Wednesday. It called on the public to stay inside homes or workplaces from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on International Human Rights Day. The tactic has been used on special occasions since the military takeover. Images on social media showed uncrowded streets in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, and elsewhere.” (12/10/25)
- UK: Archaeologists find earliest known fire made by humans
Source: CNN
“A field in eastern England has revealed evidence of the earliest known instance of humans creating and controlling fire, a significant find that archaeologists say illuminates a dramatic turning point in the human story. In Barnham, Suffolk, the discovery of baked earth that formed a hearth, heat-shattered flint axes and two fragments of pyrite — a type of stone used to create sparks for lighting tinder — indicates that early humans, most likely Neanderthals, were able to make and maintain fires. ‘This is a 400,000-year-old site where we have the earliest evidence of making fire, not just in Britain or Europe, but in fact, anywhere else in the world,’ said Nick Ashton, curator of Palaeolithic collections at the British Museum in a news briefing. … The artifacts uncovered at the site are 350,000 years older than the previous known evidence of fire-making in the archaeological record, which was from a site in northern France.” (12/10/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/10/science/earliest-fire-use-neanderthals
- Your Fascist Immigration Policies
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan“Though I’m painfully aware of the ubiquity of false accusations of fascism, one glaring expression of fascism hides in plain sight all over the world: anti-immigration policies. The fascist nature of U.S. anti-immigration policies has been especially blatant this year. The Department of Homeland Security claims to have deported over 400,000 people. The vast majority of them are accused of no crime against person or property. Instead, they are being violently detained and expelled simply for breathing the air of our country without government permission — permission that is almost impossible to obtain. Even migrants who managed to get this elusive permission have had it revoked. Not because of anything they did, but simply because the government didn’t want them to keep breathing our air.” (12/10/25)
- We need to quarantine rabid government
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal“It has always bothered me how much of the news is concerned with what government is doing. In a way, I understand. When there’s a rabid dog at your door, you need to know about it. Unfortunately, talking about it doesn’t solve the problem. The rabid dog is still there, threatening us. F. William ‘Bill’ Schmidt, a man of impressive accomplishments whom I only learned about after his recent death at the age of 92, wrote: ‘Why is Government always the principal subject of public discussion? Because the existence of Government violates the Natural Rights of everyone; and everyone is struggling to understand this malevolent institution which inevitably creates conflicts and chaos.’ He was right.” (12/10/25)
- The Pandemic Revealed the Most Cowardly Society of All Time
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Filipe Rafaeli“‘It’s not time to admit that the vaccines don’t stop Covid transmission? The data is clear,’ [Alex] Berenson posted on his Twitter in August 2021. His statement was simply true. … The next day, Twitter permanently banned him. The reason given: violation of rules for spreading ‘false information about Covid-19.’ Soon afterward, it was proven that the White House had pressured social media platforms to censor numerous journalists, scientists, and whistleblowers who pointed out that the vaccine propaganda was misleading. … In the United States, freedom of speech is so deeply rooted in society that, in the name of that principle, they tolerate people marching down the street carrying Nazi flags. In other words, in the US you can walk around with one of those flags in public, but you cannot point out that there is misleading advertising about a pharmaceutical product. That crosses the line.” (12/10/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-pandemic-revealed-the-most-cowardly-society-of-all-time/
- What College Taught Gen-Z Is Getting Them Fired
Source: The Daily Economy
by Laura Williams“College sought to protect students from discomfort. The economy demands they perform under pressure. The resulting collision is reshaping early-career outcomes.” (12/10/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/what-college-taught-gen-z-is-getting-them-fired/
- A stark lesson about the president’s war powers
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will“Do not expect the Constitution’s language and structure to impede what decades of presidential practices have made normal: presidents doing what they choose regarding warmaking. The current president has pushed prerogative to absurdity (e.g., defining war as something waged by suspected drug smugglers). In domestic affairs (e.g., a bogus ’emergency’ justifying tariffs; an executive order amending the 14th Amendment regarding birthright citizenship), the Constitution probably soon will restrain him. Regarding warmaking, however, the Constitution, Congress and norms are cobwebs inadequate for lassoing a presidential locomotive. So, voters are learning the Constitution’s limited ability to mitigate the consequences of their choices. Neither the language of the law (constitutional or other), nor what are now shadows of norms, can substitute for what is indispensable: an occupant of the presidency whose constitutional conscience causes him or her to distinguish the proper from the merely possible.” (12/10/25)
- The new mercantilism
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie“At its core, mercantilism emphasizes using tariffs and trade restrictions to boost national exports, limit imports, and accumulate wealth or power, rather than relying on free-market trade flows to optimize global welfare. The current trade strategy of President Trump and his administration largely echoes those principles, with aggressive and broad tariffs on imports, plus reciprocal tariffs meant to penalize trade partners. Some commentators call this a new mercantilism,adapted for 21st-century global trade conflicts. It is characterized by combining tariffs, trade restrictions, and industrial policy aimed at re-shoring manufacturing and reducing dependency on rival powers. … in terms of motivation and tools, the US seems to be embracing a mercantilist trade-power strategy again, even if it doesn’t use the same rhetoric as 18th-century mercantilist states.” (12/10/25)
- The missing half of healthcare choice
Source: Niskanen Center
by Katherine Hall“In their current push for patient choice, Republicans in Congress and the administration are focused primarily on the demand side by adjusting the offerings available in the Affordable Care Act marketplace and pursuing aggressive price transparency requirements for hospitals and insurers. Together, these reform efforts aim to make patients more price-sensitive shoppers with greater direct control over their healthcare spending. This year, Republicans greatly expanded the reach of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) – tools that individuals can use to pay directly for health expenses when paired with cheaper, higher-deductible insurance plans. … these reforms often rely on a competitively responsive supply side. In reality, a worsening doctor shortage and the erosion of independent, lower-cost providers make clear that the supply side is unlikely to meet this moment for patients without similar reforms.” (12/10/25)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-missing-half-of-healthcare-choice
- 14th Amendment is plain on citizenry
Source: Orange County Register
by the editorial board“As a general rule, babies born in the United States of America are citizens of the United States of America. There isn’t any question about that. It’s in the Constitution, 14th Amendment: ‘All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.’ … If the president, as with any other citizen, thinks there’s a problem with some part of the Constitution, he’s welcome to lead the charge to repeal it, and with his bully pulpit he would have a better chance than most in his quest. But instead of pursuing normal legal channels, Trump on his first day back in office issued an executive order …”
https://www.ocregister.com/2025/12/10/14th-amendment-is-plain-on-citizenry/
- Creating “good rules” for AI
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“Civilians around the world daily and easily engage with artificial intelligence, communicating with chatbot ‘therapists’ and ‘friends’ or creating realistic videos with entirely machine-generated content. Governments, meanwhile, are racing to keep up with the implications of AI – positive and otherwise – for national security and economic competitiveness as well as for citizen freedoms, privacy, and safety. The challenge centers on whether and how much to regulate this rapidly advancing and lucrative sector. And how to do so without eroding the democratic, free-market values of individual and entrepreneurial autonomy. Australia is now the first country to ban social media use for children under age 16. In July, the United Kingdom enacted age verification for accessing pornographic sites. And last year, the European Union passed an AI Act to ‘foster responsible’ development, while addressing ‘potential risks to citizens’ health, safety, and fundamental rights.'” (12/09/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/1209/Creating-good-rules-for-AI
- Gracearchy with Jim Babka, episode 146
Source: Gracearchy with Jim Babka
“The Self-Hating Tea Party vs Thomas Massie.” (12/10/25)
- So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 12/10/25
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“FIRE answers your questions.” (12/10/25)
https://www.thefire.org/news/podcasts/so-speak-free-speech-podcast/fire-answers-your-questions